One Hamas rocket hit Yehud and brought international flights to Ben-Gurion Airport to a major halt last week. Hamas rockets aren't guided missiles but they still can cause massive damage to a considerable area and aircraft.

The much vaunted Iron Dome battery failed to
intercept and the rocket's successful hit the viscinity of the
Airport. It proved to be a strategic victory for Hamas and struck a
temporary blow to Israel's economy, its physical link to the rest of
the world. Furthermore it caused a considerable damage to its
military clout and its international reputation for effective
security.

In
Focus

To save face, an excuse was pushed by the government
that it happened owing to a decision not to intercept the rocket. The
decision, it was told, was made by the Iron Dome battery officer,
ranking no higher than a captain and without the intervention of a
more senior officer.

The rocket had exploded Tuesday near Israel's main
airport. The world didn't believe what happened but the close
friends of Israel promptly banned flights from the US, Europe and
Canada. There was a fear of the fate of the tragedy of a civilian
jetliner shot down over Ukraine by rebel forces. Hurriedly, Israel
declared that Ben-Gurion Airport safe. The Israeli government
reassured the world that there was no reason to "hand terror a
prize" by halting flights.

The Palestinian militants, with their throats fixed
on the Israeli rapiers have fired more than 2,000 rockets toward
Israel since fighting began. Most of them didn't hit any target and
fell harmlessly into open areas or were shot out of the sky by the
"Iron Dome" defense system. The Israeli casualties were
minimal and almost negligible as compared to number 1000
Palestinians, many of them were just born and toddlers.

Tuesday's Hamas rocket attack was the closest to the
airport so far and largely destroyed a house, slightly injuring one
Israeli in the nearby Tel Aviv suburb of Yehud. The US Federal
Aviation Administration had prohibited American airlines from flying
to Tel Aviv for 24 hours "due to the potentially hazardous
situation created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza."

Later, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an
advisory to airlines saying it "strongly recommends"
airlines avoid the airport. Germany's Lufthansa, Air France, Air
Canada, Alitalia, Dutch KLM, Britain's easyJet, Turkish Airlines and
Greece's Aegean Airlines were among those carriers canceling flights
to Tel Aviv over safety concerns amid the increasing violence. For
instance, unguided mortar fire in Tripoli from a militia battling to
control its international airport destroyed an Airbus A330 on the
ground over the weekend.

The Tel Aviv airport is Israel's main gateway to the
world and Hamas militants know it is a key to disrupt life in Israel.

Israel said that five more of its soldiers were
killed in pre-truce fighting in Gaza, bringing the army death toll to
40 as troops battled militants in the tiny Mediterranean enclave that
is home to 1.8 million Palestinians.

The time this article was being written there were
reports that Israel has approved a four-hour extension of a temporary
truce in Gaza. According to Israeli media, the Palestinian death toll
has already topped 1,000 with the retrieval of more than 130 bodies.